A new study has found that a quarter of UK households are paying up to four times more for heating by using plug-in electric heaters instead of gas central heating.
The research, part of Utilita’s Power Price List series, revealed that 25% of homes with central heating still opt for electric heaters, despite them costing between 3-3.7 times more to run.
Shockingly, 15% of these households rely solely on electric heaters throughout winter, leaving their central heating off entirely.
Among the reasons given for using plug-in heaters:
- 54% said they only need to heat one room
- 45% like the instant heat they provide
- 34% assumed they are cheaper than gas heating
- 27% said they couldn’t heat just one room with their central heating
Dimitrios Stefanoglou, Sustainable Innovation Analyst at Utilita, said: “Around half (51%) of households using plug-in heaters struggle to compare costs between electric and gas heating.
We’ve done the work for them – running an electric portable heater costs £3 per day, compared to just £0.90 per day for gas central heating.”
Heating an average living room with an electric heater costs £400 per year, compared to £136 with a 20-year-old boiler or £108 with a new gas boiler.
The study also found that electric heater use increases carbon emissions by 34 kg per household per year, equivalent to driving an extra 127 miles.
